When The World Came Crashing Down
by lizziebear87
Summary: There is something wrong with Reese and Malcolm and the family intend to find out what. Lots of brotherly love. Rated T to be safe. Chapter 10 finally up!
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, this is my first fanfic so I hope you like it. I'm not too sure on the timeline for Malcolm in the Middle but I think this is set in season 3 (where Reese is 15 and Malcolm is 14). Francis has married Piama and he's working at the dude ranch (Grotto's) and there is no Jamie.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that was created by the creators of Malcolm in the Middle.

(I went over the chapter again and hopefully fixed all the spelling mistakes and extra comma's. Thanks for the reviews)

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Chapter 1

Slowly he opened his eyes. He watched as the world around him fell apart as one by one all the buildings came crashing down. Avalanches of grass and dirt fell down the mountains gaining speed as they got closer to the bottom. Cracks appeared in the earth as the earthquakes got worse, the sound growing louder and louder. Finally the earth split in pieces, some of the pieces falling into the fires below. Then suddenly, it all stopped. He was accompanied by nothing but silence and his own thoughts. Slowly he began to walk around, the earth surprisingly steady as his feet hit the ground with every step he took. He stood on grass, dirt, gravel and glass but he didn't stop walking. There was no sign of anyone, alive or dead, yet somehow he had survived. He kept walking in silence glancing here and there as if inspecting the damage. Then it happened. Either he tripped on something or the ground beneath him gave way. It didn't matter though because now he was falling slowly. He closed his eyes...

Reese opened his eyes. The sun shone brightly through his bedroom window, so bright he had to close his eyes again.

'Oh no' he thought to himself as he realised that it was now morning. His mother must have opened the curtains, which explained the brightness.

"Reese, come on. Get up!" said his brother Malcolm, who was standing at the bedroom door, "Mum said that if we're not at the breakfast table in 5 minutes she throwing breakfast in the bin."

"Alright, I'm getting up." Reese groaned. Gradually he peeled himself out of bed, threw some clothes on and walked to the kitchen. At the table he was met by Malcolm and his brother Dewey eating what looked like scrambled eggs and toast, his father Hal reading the paper while drinking coffee and his mother Lois simultaneously dishing his own breakfast and talking on the phone.

"Just hold on a second Francis," she laid the phone on her shoulder and looked at Reese. "Eat up Reese or you'll be late for school." After dropping Reese's plate on the table in front of him she turned her attention back to her eldest son on the phone.

"Sorry Francis, now what was it you were saying?"

"I was trying to organise this weekend mum. Remember Piama and I are coming over?" On the other end of the phone Francis was sitting in his office at the dude ranch.

"Oh I'm sorry Francis. I completely forgot. I knew there was a reason why I took work off."

"How could you forget? I told you weeks ago!"

"Calm down Francis. You can still come over. We didn't make any plans or anything and I'm sure the boys would love to see you."

"Good. It took me weeks to get this weekend off and I'm not going to waste it here. Now can you pass me to dad, I have to ask him something."

"Okay, bye sweetie. Hal, Francis wants more money." Lois passed the phone to Hal then went to the sink and washed Malcolm's and Dewey's dishes who had already finished their breakfasts and disappeared. Reese though, still sat at the table, his breakfast barely touched.

"Alright Francis, how much do you want?" Hal asked on the phone which made Francis chuckle.

"No, no dad, you've got it all wrong. I was just wondering if while we're there Piama and I can sleep in the garage."

"The garage, huh. Why would you want to sleep in there?" Hal and Lois exchanged looks.

"Well I was thinking that with an extra 2 people in the house it might be quieter if we slept in the garage."

"Quieter while we're all asleep? I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean." Hal said puzzled. On the other end of the phone Francis was annoyed and growing impatient.

"Dad, do you really need me to spell it out for you? The reason I asked is because Piama and I will need privacy."

"Oh" was all Hal could manage when he realised what Francis meant. "Well I can't make any promises son but I'll talk about it with your mother."

"Alright then, dad. Hey, I got to go now, one of the cows just got stuck in the fence, but let me know as soon as you can. Bye Dad."

"Bye son." Hal hung up the phone and looked at Lois, who was sitting at her usual place at the table. Neither of them noticed Reese empty his breakfast from his plate to the bin and leave the kitchen.

"What does he want Hal?" Lois asked.

"While he's staying here he wants to sleep in the garage with Piama" he replied casually before picking up the paper and sipping his coffee.

"What!" Lois almost exploded.

"Well, he said that with 2 more people in the house it might get a little loud," Hal said, a little startled. "You should've heard him on the phone, dear. He's quite the convincing little chap."

"Oh, Hal. We have a perfectly good sofa bed he can use. Besides, how are we going to get a bed inside the garage? It'll take you weeks just to clear a space for it!" Hal paused, rolling his eyes searching his brain for the right answer.

"I hadn't thought of that" he eventually conceded.

"Oh well" Lois said getting up from her chair, "you'll just have to get the boys to help you then. Good luck with that." Lois left Hal at the kitchen table to think but a moment later, he could hear her yelling at the boys to hurry up.

"So anyway, I can't wait to get to school and tell my friends about my weekend" Dewey said excitedly. Reese just rolled his eyes tiredly while Malcolm pretended to be interested.

"Sounds great, Dewey. Make sure you tell them about the giant rat we caught."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. Thanks Malcolm." Dewey grinned.

"That's alright. We'll meet you here after school, okay?"

"Okay, bye" Dewey turned around and headed for his school while Malcolm and Reese continued walking towards their own. For a couple of blocks they walked in silence until Malcolm couldn't stand it anymore.

"So, mum told me that Francis is visiting this weekend. Exciting, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess." Reese couldn't be bothered talking, he was tired and he felt sick. Walking was hard enough.

"That's it?" Malcolm was dumbfounded. Usually when Francis visited none of the brother's could shut up about it.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Reese asked angrily.

"I dunno, maybe something with a little more enthusiasm" Malcolm snapped back. Reese sighed. His brother was still staring at him and he was getting frustrated.

"Okay Malcolm. It's great news about Francis, I'm so excited and I couldn't be happier." Reese said impatiently. Malcolm was taken aback. Forgetting how to walk he stood where he was and watched Reese. He seemed to be walking okay but had a bit of a limp in his step. He was also breathing hard and for the first time that morning he noticed how pale Reese looked. Forgetting about his anger and remembering how to walk he caught up to his brother.

"Hey, Reese. Are you okay? You don't look so good." Reese couldn't help but stop where he was, just outside the school gates, and grind his teeth. To add to his fatigue and malaise he now had a headache.

"I'm fine" he answered through gritted teeth. Malcolm stood and stared at him, worry written all over his face. Seeing this Reese realised that Malcolm wasn't going to let him leave without something, so he continued.

"I just have a bit of a headache but that's all." Then he turned around and entered the school gates. Malcolm, giving up for now, followed him and ran to class.

"And so class, I'm going to hand out your work for the day. I'll finish by repeating what I say every class, the more you complete in class, the less homework you'll have tonight. I hope all of you take that on board and use your time wisely." As he said that last part the teacher stared at Reese.

A sheet of paper was handed to Reese so he absentmindedly read through it. On it were 15 questions of maths problems, something Reese was not in the mood to do. He still felt tired, he still felt sick and as the day went on his headache kept getting worse. Plus he was now starting to feel dizzy.

"Reese," he heard his teacher call.

"I suggest you pick up your pen now." Doing as he was told, he picked up his pen and wrote his name up the top. At that action, his head gave out a throb of pain so he rested it in his hand. After that Reese lost track of time.

He didn't know how many times he read and re-read the first question, it never got any easier and after what seemed like hours he gave up.

"Sir" Reese called to the teacher.

"Yes, Reese" his teacher glared at him.

"May I go see the nurse? I don't feel so good."

"Nice try, Reese, but I know you better than that. The last time I let you see the nurse you egged my car. Now finish your work and wait until the end of class."

'Easier said than done' Reese thought. Staring down at his work again he realised he didn't know how much time was left, so he looked up at the clock. Reese later regretted that. While squinting up at the clock the numbers seemed to fade away and he felt the strange sensation of falling.

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Thanks for reading.

I'll update as soon as possible. In the mean time feel free to review.


	2. Chapter 2

Firstly I would just like to say thanks to my reveiwers :) I was was always planning on completing this story but knowing that people are reading it makes all the difference. If you havent already noticed i edited the first chapter so the spelling mistakes are fixed (hopefully all of them) and there was a big error in the beggining so it should make more sense now. This chapter is a bit longer then the first one and i originally intended to update yesterday but we were having internet connection problems. So again i hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that was created by the creators on Malcolm in the Middle.

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Chapter 2

"Reese!"

He heard someone calling his name but he wasn't sure who as all he could see was black. He didn't know where he was but he was uncomfortable. Though, it was not enough for him to want to wake up.

"Reese!" There it was again. This time he knew the voice, he recognised it as belonging to his teacher. Slowly coming back to reality he decided to say something.

"What?" Reese whispered.

"Come on Reese. Open your eyes." He didn't want to but slowly he peeled them open and took in his surroundings. He was facing the ceiling with a couple of different faces in his line of vision. One of them was his teacher's.

"Oh good Reese. You're back. Can you get up?" Without answering Reese carefully lifted himself up with the help of a classmate.

"Okay Reese, you win. You can go to the nurse. Peter, can you go with him please?"

"Sure sir. I've already finished my work anyway" the classmate with his hand on Reese's back said.

"Good" replied the teacher. Peter then helped Reese to his feet and led him out of the classroom.

The final bell rang and Malcolm and the rest of his classmates couldn't get out fast enough. Outside, Malcolm was joined by Stevie.

"So do you know what you're going to do for your science project?"

"Not yet" Malcolm replied shortly. He had reached his meeting place with Reese but Reese was nowhere in sight.

"Oh man, where the hell is Reese!" he almost shouted.

"You know Reese," Stevie chimed in, "he's probably causing some kind of mischief somewhere. Or he's in detention." Staring at Stevie, Malcolm wasn't sure how to respond but he never had to.

"Hey, are you Reese's brother?" Malcolm spun around and came face to face with a kid he'd never seen before.

"Yeah, I'm Malcolm. Where's Reese?"

"I'm Peter. I took Reese to the nurse's office about half an hour ago."

"What!" Malcolm shouted.

"What did he do this time?" Stevie asked at the same time. Staring at Stevie Peter kept going.

"Oh, he didn't do anything. He collapsed in class today." Malcolm was stunned before his concern for his brother took over.

"He collapsed? Is he okay?"

"Well I'm not too sure. When I took him to the nurse he was pretty out of it but he might be okay now. He's probably still there if you want to see him." Peter said sympathetically.

"Okay, thanks Peter."

"You're welcome" Peter said before running off.

"Stevie, I have to go to the nurse's office, you coming?"

"Nah sorry. My dad's waiting for me."

"Alright, see you tomorrow then." Malcolm then ran full pelt to the nurse's office. When he got there the first thing he saw was Reese lying on a bed, with an elderly nurse hovering around him.

"Reese, there you are." Reese looked startled as he saw Malcolm standing at the door, out of breath.

"Malcolm, you seem puffed out. Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? You're the one who collapsed in class and you're asking if I'm okay?" Realizing he was yelling and the nurse was staring at him he quietened down and walked over to the bed Reese was on.

"Reese, tell me what happened." It was more of a request then a question.

"I dunno, Malcolm. I was looking at the clock and the next thing I know I'm on the ground with a splitting headache."

"Oh man. I'm gonna go call mum."

"NO!" Reese cried out.

"What?"

"You can't tell anyone Malcolm. Not mum, not dad and not even Dewey!"

"But don't you think they should know?"

"NO! They don't need to know. Everything is fine now. It would just be a waste of time." Malcolm studied Reese's face. When he said he was going to call their mum Reese's eyes were full of anger and rage. Now they were pleading to him.

"Oh alright, Reese. How are we going to get you home though? Can you walk?"

"Yep, I'm fine to walk. Let's go."

"Wait a minute young man," the nurse called out from her desk. Reese and Malcolm, who had not moved, looked at her.

"Don't forget to put some ice on that nasty bruise when you get home."

"Yes, miss." Malcolm answered for Reese. "I'll personally make sure that he does." He finished with a charming smile.

"Good, you may go then."

Malcolm didn't know what to expect on the way home. Reese had seemed a little unsteady on his feet and 3 times Malcolm had asked if he wanted to stop for a moment but each time he said no. When they met Dewey, he was angry.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting?" he cried out.

"Sorry Dewey." Malcolm said quickly.

"What on earth were you doing?" The panic was evident in Reese's face as Malcolm tried to come up with a convincing lie.

"Uh, my teacher held me back after class. He kept going on and on about how good one of my papers was. I tried to escape but I couldn't." For a moment Dewey's face held its anger but then it relaxed. Seeing this Reese let out a sigh of relief, which got Dewey's attention.

"Hey, what happened to you?" he pointed at the bruise on Reese's forehead.

"He was thrown into a pole," Malcolm said quickly, "He got into a fight at lunchtime and was thrown into a pole."

"Oh, well serves you right then. Anyway, let's go. There's a bully over there that's had his eye on me since I got here."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Reese was too focused on his headache, Malcolm was worried about Reese and Dewey was thinking about seeing the giant rat they caught on the weekend. They were all relieved once they got home, until they came face to face with Lois who was waiting at the front door.

"Alright," she said calmly. "You boys are more than 15 minutes late. I want answers."

Shocked, they all just stood there, not knowing what to say. So Lois went on.

"And what happened to your head Reese? How did you get that bruise? Did you think I wouldn't notice it?"

"Uh" was all Reese could manage before Dewey took over.

"He was in a fight at school and was thrown into a pole. Can we come in now?"

"Oh Reese! Can't you go one day without causing a fight? What's the matter with you?" Malcolm opened his mouth to say something but Lois put up her hand to shush him.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Reese we're going to put some ice on that and then you're grounded, mister. As for you two. Room. Homework. Now!"

Lois grabbed Reese by his sleeve and dragged him inside while Malcolm and Dewey trudged to their room in silence.

"Sit there." Lois told Reese as she slung him on the couch. Reese was unable to respond to her though as she quickly disappeared to the kitchen to get some ice. When she returned she held a tea towel to his aching head which caused him to scrunch his face and groan in pain.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Lois started to interrogate. All Reese could do was open his eyes. He had no idea how to explain this one, coming up with plausible lies was Malcolm's forte. Plus his headache was making it hard to think.

"No?" Lois was growing impatient. Reese couldn't take it anymore.

"Mum, I've got a bad headache. Do we have anything I can take?"

"Well that all depends on whether you're going to tell me what happened and I want the truth, mister" was Lois' smug reply. Reese closed his eyes to think when all of a sudden Malcolm's voice came from behind them.

"It's not really his fault, mum. You see, at lunchtime today there was this bully who was picking on Stevie and I. Reese happened to see this and he came over to defend us. Unfortunately, it didn't end well for him which is why he didn't want to say anything. He was embarrassed." Lois looked up at Malcolm.

"I'm sorry, mum." Reese said so softly it was barely audible. Lois turned her gaze back to Reese who she could see was suffering from something.

"Hmm..." she muttered. She lifted Reese's hand up to the ice on his head and told him to hold it.

"You're still grounded," she said. "Now go to your room and keep the ice on your head. After an hour if you still need it I'll get you some pain killers. Malcolm, make sure he doesn't go to sleep because he might be concussed."

"Alright mum. Come on Reese." Malcolm grabbed Reese's arm and pulled him up. As they were walking through the kitchen Reese began to feel dizzy again. Reaching out his arm he found a chair which he gratefully grabbed hold of to keep from falling. He was too fast to grab the chair though, as the force from his arm pushed the chair into the kitchen table, causing a loud bang.

"What's going on?" Lois yelled from the couch.

"Nothing, mum. Everything's fine" cried out Malcolm as he grabbed a bent over Reese and led him to their room. Once there, Malcolm couldn't contain himself.

"What was that Reese?" he asked loudly. Still holding the ice to his head, Reese collapsed onto his bed.

"What was what?" came Dewey's curious voice from the other bed. Malcolm had forgotten about him.

"Dewey, Mum said she needs you in the lounge room." Noticing the picture Dewey was colouring, Malcolm added "Then maybe you should colour on the kitchen table. You keep pushing the pencils through the paper. You need something to lean on." Dewey groaned but left the room. Malcolm stared at Reese who stared back in silence.

"Well" Malcolm pushed.

"It was nothing" Reese lied.

"Come on Reese. What kind of fool do you take me for? I pretty much just had to catch and carry you!"

"Look, I just felt a little dizzy is all" Reese said angrily.

"Dizzy! Is that how you felt in class today?" Malcolm sat down across from Reese on his bed.

"Maybe." Reese sounded like a grumpy child who had just been caught out by his mother. Malcolm rolled his eyes at his brother's stubbornness and thought for a moment. Reese didn't know it but for the last couple of weeks Malcolm had been watching him. It all started when Reese's face had become pale and his personality changed. He wasn't acting tough anymore and since then Malcolm had noticed that he was eating less and less as time went by. Now in the space of one day he could add headache, dizzy spells and blacking out to the list. Malcolm was a genius but he didn't need to be one to know that something was wrong.

Coming back to reality, he stared at Reese who was sitting up against a pillow with the ice firmly held to his head. Malcolm became alarmed when he saw that Reese's eyes were closed.

"Reese, wake up!" he cried out, jumping from his bed to Reese's.

"I am," came Reese's tired reply.

'Oh great,' Malcolm thought as he mentally added fatigue to the list. He was no doctor but after a bout of rapid thinking he came up with a few diagnoses.

"Reese," he began to say tentatively. "I think we should tell mum." This jerked Reese awake.

"No!" he screamed.

"But Reese, there could be something really wrong with you" Malcolm said pleadingly.

"You can't tell, you promised!" In his anger Reese threw the ice across the room which landed with a shattering thud. Sighing, Malcolm went over to pick it up and handed it back to Reese before sitting back on his bed. He was about to say something when the bedroom door abruptly opened and Dewey entered the room, looking very annoyed.

"Hey! You lied to me Malcolm. Mum didn't want me but since I was there she made me wash the dishes. Now she wants us to clean the garage so that Francis can sleep in there."

"Wait, Francis is sleeping in the garage?" Malcolm asked.

"Well I hope so. Otherwise us cleaning it will be a waste of time now, wouldn't it?" was Dewey's smart reply. Rolling his eyes Malcolm turned back to Reese.

"Do you think you can clean the garage?"

"Not Reese, Malcolm. Mum said he has to stay in his room. It's just you and me."

'Well, I guess that saves me from having to think of another lie.' Malcolm thought.

"Okay Dewey. Let's go then."

All was quiet at the dinner table that night. Malcolm and Dewey were tired and dusty from all the cleaning and lifting they had done, Lois and Hal were busy eating and Reese was just sitting there, wishing the food on his plate would magically disappear. It was Hal who suddenly broke the ice.

"So, honey. How was your day?"

"Pretty good, actually. I got a lot more done around the house today then I have for weeks. At the end of the day I even had a chance to relax and put my feet up."

"That's nice, honey." Hal smiled at his wife. "What about you, Dewey?" he looked at his youngest son sitting to his left. Dewey smiled at his father and then proceeded to tell his long and eventful story about his day. Reese, who was sitting next to Dewey, wished he could roll his eyes but his head still hurt so he settled for shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"Eat your dinner, Reese" Lois cut into Dewey's story telling. Reluctantly Reese brought a bit of mashed potato to his mouth and swallowed. His stomach churned and he thought he was going to throw up but he was just able to hold it down. Meanwhile, Dewey had continued talking.

"So anyway, after I said bye to Joey I walked to the end of the street to meet Malcolm and Reese. They weren't there though but there was this group of older kids-"

"Wait a second," Lois cut in again. "Malcolm and Reese weren't there?" she glared at Malcolm and then Reese. "Where were you two?"

For a moment, Malcolm was about to cave in and tell the truth but then he saw Reese's face across the table. So he tried to remember what he told Dewey.

"Well, my teacher kept me back after class and kept going on and on about how good one of my papers was."

"Oh yeah? What was it about?"

"Uh, Ancient Egypt and their Pharaohs."

"How many words was it?"

"5000." Malcolm was thinking fast.

"Sounds good. Can I read it?" Malcolm couldn't tell if his mother was genuinely interested or trying to catch him in a lie. Meanwhile Reese had put his head in his hands, all this mindless chatter making him feel worse.

"Uh, well my teacher's going to hold onto it for a while." Malcolm was running out of lies.

"When will you get it back?"

"Uh-"

"Enough!" Reese screamed. Everyone at the table looked at him and noticed that he was distressed.

"What's the matter son?" asked Hal.

"He's lying okay. Malcolm's covering for me." Reese was beginning to get flustered.

"I knew it." Lois said triumphantly, "Now tell me the truth!" Lois glared at Reese while Malcolm thought he would tell the truth about what happened.

"I was in the nurse's office. After my fight today I had such a headache I went after class to see if I could get anything for it." The load on Malcolm's back that had lifted a moment ago came crashing back down. He turned to look at his mother who looked horrified.

"Oh my god, Reese!" she cried out. "I gave you 2 tablets an hour ago. That's probably why you're not eating, you've had an overdose!" No one could tell if she was worried or angry. She put her hand on Reese's forehead, which made him wince in pain, then got up and brought over a glass of water.

"Drink this then go straight to bed." She ordered Reese. Everyone watched as he drank the water and then got up slowly and left the kitchen. Lois then turned to Malcolm.

"You listen to me. I want you to keep your eyes on him tonight. Don't let him out of your sight and if he gets sick come and get me." Malcolm looked into his mother's eyes and nodded his head.

"You're the smart one, Malcolm. Be smart about this and don't let me down."

"Okay mum. I won't." Satisfied, Lois went back to eating her dinner, an action repeated by everyone else left at the table.

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I don't think I was always going to end it there but since it was getting pretty long I thought that it will have to do.

Thanks for reading and reviews are always appreciated. Will update as soon as I can (hopefully my internet problems will be over).


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry this is late! I've had internet connection problems but thankfully they are fixed but I've also been a bit sick with a cold. I would also like to say thanks to my reviewers again and I hope you enjoy this chapter :) Oh, just to let you know, there is some light swearing in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that was created by the creators of Malcolm in the Middle.

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Chapter 3

Malcolm slowly opened his eyes to see the sun shining brightly through the windows of his bedroom. Finally it was morning. It had been a long night for Malcolm and he had lost sleep over it. It had started off innocently enough though, when he returned to his room after dinner Reese was lying in bed, seemingly asleep. Not wanting to disturb him he turned on the desk lamp at his desk and started doing homework. Hal and Dewey were watching TV and Lois was washing dishes so he had a bit of peace and quiet. After a couple of hours he had finished his work, in which time Dewey had returned after showering and was sitting on his bed in his pyjamas.

"Dewey, I'm gonna have a quick shower so can you watch Reese?" Dewey looked up from the book he was reading.

"Okay, but be quick. I wanna go to sleep soon."

"Okay." With one last look at Reese, who albeit had moved positions was still sleeping peacefully, Malcolm disappeared into the bathroom. After he had showered and dressed he starting brushing his teeth. Then he heard a thud which had unmistakably come from his bedroom.

"Oh god" he muttered under his breath. Racing back to his bedroom he returned to find Dewey leaning over something on the floor and Reese not in bed.

"What happened?" Malcolm asked a little panicked. Dewey was also panicking.

"I dunno, he all of a sudden fell out of bed! I think he's still asleep." Malcolm got down on his knee and looked at Reese. Besides the pained expression on his face and a sweaty brow, Dewey was right and he was still asleep.

"Should we wake him?" Dewey asked.

"I dunno, I guess it couldn't hurt." Slowly and lightly Malcolm shook Reese's shoulders. Sooner than expected Reese woke up with a small yelp. Malcolm helped him sit against his bed and inspected him. Reese was panting heavily and was red in the face.

"Reese, are you okay?" Malcolm asked.

"I think so. What happened?"

"You fell out of bed you silly duffer." Dewey told him.

"Really" Reese was startled.

"Yep, looks like it." Malcolm said. Reese's eyelids began to droop and Malcolm instinctively felt his forehead, keeping his hand away from the bruise. He was burning up.

"Man, Reese. I think you have a fever. Dewey help me get him back to bed." Still a little freaked out Dewey did as he was told and by the time they had got him back to bed Reese's eyes were closed. Malcolm turned to Dewey.

"I'm just gonna get a wet cloth. You better get back to bed but keep an eye on him. I'll only be a second." Malcolm raced back to the bathroom, found a cloth and held it under water. Wringing out the excess water he folded it and ran back to his room. Dewey was back in bed with his nose in a book and Reese had moved onto his side. Sitting on Reese's bed Malcolm tried to turn him over without waking him. He was successful so he placed the cloth on his burning forehead then Malcolm got up and put the covers back on Reese.

"I think I'll leave my desk lamp on tonight," he told Dewey.

"Okay" was all he got in reply. Feeling he had done all he could Malcolm put himself to bed.

"Okay Dewey. No more reading, it's time to sleep." Without saying anything Dewey put the book on the shelf behind him and rolled over.

"Goodnight" Malcolm said as he himself rolled over. It took what seemed like hours for Malcolm to fall asleep but when he did, he was rudely awoken by a cry. Opening his eyes he saw a sight he had never expected. Reese was sitting up in bed, the cloth disappeared, with what looked like something streaming down his face and neck. Gingerly getting out of bed Malcolm went in for a closer look.

"Holy crap!" he cried out when he realised what it was. It was blood, which seemed to be coming from Reese's nose.

"Reese, did you hit yourself?" Reese shook his head, still a little alarmed. "Okay Reese, just hold on a moment." With only the light coming from the desk lamp Malcolm tried looking for the cloth. Finding on the floor he hurriedly brought it to Reese's nose where Reese was ready to hold it.

"Can you get up? I should take you to the bathroom to get cleaned up." Reese nodded slightly and Malcolm helped him out of bed. Dragging him to the bathroom Malcolm sat Reese on the toilet while he searched the cupboards for another cloth. Finding one right at the back, Malcolm started cleaning Reese's face and neck. In the bathrooms brighter light Malcolm noticed the blood had flowed down his chest and seeped into the edge of the singlet top Reese was wearing. He also noticed that there were more bruises on his arms and legs, probably caused from falling out of bed.

"Let me see" Reese slowly removed the cloth from his nose. There was still a bit of blood flowing down so Malcolm pushed the cloth back in position.

"I'm gonna go get mum." Malcolm said.

"No" Reese choked out and grabbed Malcolm's arm.

"Did you swallow some blood?" Reese nodded. Thinking quickly Malcolm searched the cupboard for a glass and filled it with water. "Here, spit out the first mouthful to get the blood out."

Reese did as he was told, spitting out the first mouthful into the sink then swallowing the next one. When he sat back down on the toilet Malcolm removed the cloth again and breathed a sigh of relief as the bleeding had stopped. He took both cloths and washed them out in the sink and hung both on the tap. He then put his hand on Reese's forehead and thankfully, he had cooled down a bit. Malcolm helped Reese to his feet and led him back to bed. Before Reese could get settled Malcolm found another bed shirt and helped him change, throwing the bloodied one in the hamper afterwards. Once Reese was settled Malcolm went back to bed, glancing at Dewey as he did. Not surprisingly, Dewey had slept through the whole thing.

Malcolm was feeling pretty tired as he down at the table the next morning. Everyone was eating breakfast except for Reese, who was noticeably absent. After his nose bleed he had seemed okay but Malcolm was so worried that he had spent the rest of his night watching Reese. As a result he was now grumpy.

"So, you didn't have to come and get me last night Malcolm. I'm assuming everything was okay?" Lois asked, breaking the silence.

"Uh, he had a bit of a fever last night but other than that he was okay."

"Hmm, well that's good then." Lois put the last piece of toast in her mouth and wiped the crumbs from her hands. "I guess I'd better check on him then." She got up from her chair but didn't make it far as a tired looking Reese entered the kitchen.

"Hi, sweetie" Lois walked over to where he stood. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yep, I guess. Are you guy's ready to go yet?" Reese asked looking at Malcolm and Dewey.

"Wait, aren't you going to eat something?" asked Lois. She quickly put her hand to his forehead to check his temperature.

"We'll be late if I do" he answered blankly.

"Well take something with you. We have muesli bars if you want one." Lois ran to the cupboard and rummaged through it, catching a glance at her watch as she did.

"Oh boys, Reese is right. You are going to be late. Quickly go and finish getting ready." Malcolm and Dewey ran out of the room and by the time Lois had found the muesli bars they were back standing next to Reese.

"Okay, here you go Reese. Have fun at school." Lois said as she walked them to the door. The instant they were outside the door behind them slammed shut and the boys started their journey to school. After a couple of blocks Dewey separated from them and Malcolm pounced on Reese.

"Aren't you gonna eat that?" he pointed at the uneaten muesli bar still in Reese's hand.

"Why, do you want it?" Reese countered .Malcolm rolled his eyes, he was too grumpy for this.

"No I don't want it Reese!" he snapped. "What I want is for you to eat it!"

"Maybe later" Reese mumbled as he chucked it in his backpack.

"Fine, don't eat it. See if I care!" Malcolm yelled. "Just don't expect me to be there when you collapse again from starvation!" Angry, Malcolm ran ahead and didn't look back.

It was lunchtime and Malcolm and Stevie were sitting together. Stevie was talking about something but Malcolm wasn't paying attention. He was too busy scanning through all the school kids to see if he could find Reese. Being his paranoid self he was a worried that Reese may not have made it to school and he was guilty about leaving him alone. A wave of relief washed over him when Malcolm finally spotted him.

"Stevie, I'll be back in a minute" without waiting for a reply Malcolm ran in the direction of his brother. As he got closer he noticed that there was a lost expression on Reese's face, like he wasn't sure where he was.

"Reese!" Malcolm called out before he reached him.

"Oh hi Malcolm" Reese said, still looking lost.

"Reese, I'm sorry about this morning."

"That's okay" Reese said blankly. All of a sudden Reese cried out in pain and clutched his side.

"Are you okay? Here, let's go sit down on that bench over there" helping his brother to the bench Malcolm sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"

"My side hurts" Reese pointed to his left side at the bottom of his ribs.

"Do you wanna go see the nurse?"

"Nah its okay, it's stopped hurting now."

"Okay" Malcolm said slowly. "Did you at least eat anything?" Reese was silent. Malcolm took that as a 'no'.

"Reese, you have to eat! You collapsed yesterday and I was up all night because you had a fever!"

"Well I'm sorry Malcolm!" Reese yelled. "But I never asked you to do anything! I'm not a little kid you know." Reese got up and gingerly walked away.

"Reese!" Malcolm cried out but he didn't stop. He was about to chase after him but the bell rang and stopped him in his tracks. Reluctantly, he went to class.

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Hope you enjoyed that :) When I first typed it out I wasn't sure about how I wrote it but if there is anything you don't understand just let me know and I'll fix it. The same goes for spelling mistakes. The next chapter will be up soon!


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this is late! I've been a little preoccupied recently and we have still been experiencing internet connection issues which may not be over yet. Also, one of my reviewers asked what the "vision" was at the start, I don't want to reveal too much but I will tell you that it was just a dream. When I first wrote it I just wanted a good/dramatic opener to the story but I have decided that I may have further use for it :) So anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that was created by the creators of Malcolm in the Middle.

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Chapter 4

Malcolm couldn't help but roll his eyes. For the last 15 minutes of class he had been clock watching and he didn't think he was crazy but at 2:51 and 27 seconds he swore the second hand went backwards to 26 seconds. Maybe it was his worry for Reese.

"What are you doing?" Stevie asked, a question that even with his asthmatic pauses only took up 17 seconds of time.

"Clock watching" Malcolm answered without taking his eyes off the clock.

"You know, watching the toaster won't pop up the toast any faster."

"Good, keep talking Stevie. You just took up 30 seconds. Only 3 minutes and 24 seconds left."

"Reese will be fine." This caught Malcolm's attention.

"What?"

"Reese will be fine. I can see that you're worried. I know you better then you think."

"Stevie you don't understand. I think he might be really sick but he won't let me tell anyone."

"He collapsed. People collapse all the time and nothing is wrong with them. The usual diagnosis is dehydration."

"What about starvation? In the last 2 weeks he'd be lucky if he had eaten the equivalent of 2 meals. Plus I was up all night last night because he had a fever."

"Do you think he's anorexic?"

"I dunno. Whatever it is though, he needs help."

"You have to tell your parents."

"But I promised him I wouldn't!"

"But his health could be at risk." Malcolm sighed. Stevie's soft voice was right. He would have to bite the bullet and tell his parents. Reese would understand later, if he ever forgave him.

"You coming?" came Stevie's voice.

"What?"

"While you were lost in your thoughts the bell rang."

"Oh, okay." Malcolm got up from his desk and pushed Stevie's wheelchair out of the classroom and outside. The fresh air jolted him back to reality and when he looked up he could see Reese in the distance, standing at their meeting place. Stevie also saw Reese.

"Alright, I gotta go. Good luck" and then Stevie was gone.

'Gee, he has a good set of arms on him' Malcolm thought, admiring Stevie's fast pace. Through the rush of school kids Malcolm eventually got to where Reese was standing. Even though it was warm, Malcolm observed that Reese was wrapped in a jacket looking like he was freezing.

"Where were you?" Reese looked at him angrily.

"Sorry Reese. I didn't hear the bell."

"Whatever, let's just go home." They started walking and when they were outside the school gates Malcolm spoke up.

"Are you cold?"

"Yes" Reese huffed impatiently.

"Look, what happened at lunchtime, I'm really sorry. It's just that I'm worried about you."

"I told you Malcolm. I'm not a kid. You don't need to worry about me." Reese's tone was softer now. "Let's just go home."

"Alright." Malcolm decided not to press the matter anymore. He would wait until they got home. They walked the next few blocks in silence but when they neared their meeting place with Dewey, they couldn't believe what they saw. There was a bunch of kids, around the same age as Malcolm, who seemed to be bullying some poor kid by the side of the road. When they got a bit closer they were shocked to see that the poor kid was Dewey. Reese groaned. He knew he was going to have to save his youngest brother; he just wasn't in the mood to do it. He slowly breathed in and out then strolled over to where his brother was standing, with Malcolm following.

"Hey, what are you doing to my brother!" he yelled.

"Reese, thank god you're here!" Dewey screamed. "This is the bully I told you about yesterday. His name is Gary." Reese looked up from Dewey and glared at Gary. He had curly strawberry blonde hair and was pudgy yet the tallest of his gang. Gary glared back at Reese and then he smiled.

"Well, what are ya gonna do, Reesey boy?" he asked smugly. This didn't make Reese happy.

"Leave my brother alone" Reese said softly. Gary and his gang laughed.

"Or what? You're gonna beat me to death with your soft whisper's!" The gang laughed even louder, some of them cheering. Reese clenched his fists and looked at the ground. His rage was building and without warning, it erupted. His punch landed on the Gary's chest yet the bully didn't even flinch. It just made him angry. Malcolm and Dewey watched in awe and shock at what happened next.

"Hey!" Gary yelled. "How dare you punch me!" To Reese it all happened in slow motion, yet he was not able to move in time. Gary threw his fist back and with the speed as fast as light it came back and connected with Reese's nose. Malcolm and Dewey watched as Reese fell with force face first into the ground, his head buried in the nature strip, his elbows in the gutter and the rest of him on the road. He didn't move.

"Oh my god you killed him!" Dewey cried out as he ran over to Reese. Malcolm though, stayed where he was and glared at the head bully, who was laughing hysterically with his gang.

"Well," Malcolm said scathingly. "I don't think you'll be so happy when you realize you are completely alone!" he barked out.

"What are you talking about?" Gary managed to say in between laughs.

"These people who are around you, they aren't your real friends. They only hang around you so you won't attack them. They probably don't even like you." Gary stared at Malcolm. He and his gang had stopped laughing and were all looking puzzled. Malcolm turned to a gang member standing to the left of Gary.

"Do you even like this guy? What has he ever done for you?" The member thought for a moment and when he opened his mouth to speak he was interrupted by Gary.

"Darren, shut up you moron!" Malcolm pressed harder.

"Are you going to take that? He clearly doesn't have any respect for you Darren. In fact, he probably doesn't respect any of you." Malcolm said the last part louder so the whole gang could hear. Then Darren spoke up.

"He's always calling me names. I hate it."

"He ruined my birthday party!" Another member shouted.

"He makes me do his homework!"

"He makes me give him my lunch!" The whole gang looked angrily at Gary.

"So gang" Malcolm jeered. "Are you gonna let him get away with it?" The gang moved in on Gary who started running, with all of his so called friends chasing him down the street. Malcolm grinned for a moment in satisfaction before he remembered Reese. His grin disappeared and he ran to his brothers. Dewey was sitting on the grass next to Reese, who still hadn't moved. Malcolm leaned over.

"Reese" he said softly. "Are you okay?" Reese was silent and Malcolm started to panic. He glanced in alarm at an alarmed Dewey who was about to say something when they heard a groan. Reese then pushed himself to his knees and tried to stand up.

"Wait on" Malcolm cried out. "Dewey, help me!" Without needing further instruction Dewey helped Malcolm help Reese to a standing position. Reese's nose was bleeding heavily so he shrugged his brothers off and held his sleeve to his nose. Then he walked away.

"Reese!" Malcolm cried out as he and Dewey raced after him. "Are you okay?" he asked again with a little more aggression.

"I'm fine." Reese answered grumpily.

"Slow down, you were just knocked out!"

"No I wasn't." Reese turned to glare at him. "I heard everything you said. Dewey will be so happy to know that his non-violent brother will always save the day!" Reese was almost shouting.

"Calm down Reese. Let me help you. You look like you're about to collapse again." Malcolm reached out his hands to Reese who just stared at them.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by "again"?" Malcolm had forgotten about Dewey. Reese stared into Malcolm's eyes in fury. Ignoring the outstretched hands Reese spun on his heels and gingerly walked away.

"Oh no" Malcolm mumbled as he watched the retreating Reese.

"You didn't answer me!" Dewey cried out angrily.

"Just come on. We gotta go home." Malcolm grabbed Dewey's shoulder and ran after Reese.

Malcolm and Dewey reached their front yard just as they saw Reese stumble through the front door. They quickly followed but like the day before, they were ambushed by Lois. Only this time they had gotten through the front door and saw that their mother was clutching Reese's shoulders.

"Reese what happened to you? There's blood everywhere!" Before she could get an answer Reese tore himself away and stormed off. So she turned to Malcolm and Dewey.

"Well, I'm still waiting for an answer" she said in her usual bossy tone.

"I was being bullied by a group of older kids and when Malcolm and Reese saw it Reese tried to help me. The main bully punched him in the nose though. Can I go to my room now?" Dewey told Lois before Malcolm could say anything. Lois stared at Dewey for a moment before deciding that his answer was acceptable.

"Alright, you can go to your room. Not you though Malcolm. There's something I wanna ask you." Dewey escaped to his room while Malcolm had to follow his mother who was walking towards the laundry room. She quickly grabbed something from a basket and turned to Malcolm.

"Explain this." Lois held a shirt up for Malcolm to see. It took a moment for him to process what it was but when he did the blood drained from Malcolm's face. It was Reese's shirt from the night before, still stained with Reese's blood. Malcolm sighed.

"Reese had a nose bleed last night."

"I thought you said he was okay. Why didn't you tell me when I asked you this morning, huh?" Lois was starting to get angry.

"Because Reese didn't want me to" Malcolm blurted out. Lois threw the shirt back into the basket and sat down at the kitchen table.

"I told you to be smart about this Malcolm. I told you to come and get me if something was wrong. What part of that didn't you understand?" Lois yelled. Malcolm followed her to the kitchen table but didn't sit down.

"Don't you think that I wanted to get you? The only reason why I didn't was because Reese wouldn't let me!" Malcolm yelled back.

"Why wouldn't he let you?"

"I don't know!" Malcolm calmed down a bit, sat down and looked straight into Lois' eyes. "But Mum, I do know that there is something wrong with him." They continued staring into each other's eyes before Lois said something that surprised Malcolm.

"I know Malcolm." Malcolm's jaw dropped.

"You know!"

"For goodness sake, Malcolm. I'm his mother, of course I know. I just wasn't sure what and I was hoping you would help me find out." Lois glared at Malcolm. He sighed.

"Alright, I'll tell you everything.

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Don't know if I like the conversation with Lois at the end but I just had to update so I may change it later. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your reviews :) I will try to update as soon as I can. Thankyou for your patience :)


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, here's another chapter! I hadn't really planned this one so most of it was written on the spot so I hope you like it :) Thanks again to my reviewers, I read your reviews after I post every chapter and they always bring a smile to my face :)

Disclaimer: Since I can't be bothered typing it all again see the previous 4 chapters.

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Chapter 5

Malcolm told her everything. He started with the minor symptoms like the pale face and change of temperature through to the loss of appetite and fatigue. He finished with the worst of it, the dizziness and blackout. As she was listening Lois's face would change depending on the seriousness of the symptom. When he had finished talking Malcolm paused for a moment so his mother could process what he had just told her. Then he revealed to her what had been lingering on his mind for the last couple of days.

"Mum, I think he could be really sick."

"Is that what you think?" Lois said softly. It was more of a statement then a question.

"I've been thinking about it a lot. I'm not sure what's wrong with him but whatever it is he needs help. Maybe you should take him to a doctor."

"Alright, I think that's a good idea. I should go check on him now, hopefully his nose has stopped bleeding." Lois got up and called out to Reese.

"I'm in the bathroom" came a choked reply. Malcolm decided to follow his mother to the bathroom, where they found Reese sitting on the toilet with a cloth to his nose. He looked up as they entered.

"Let me see" Lois said as she crouched in front of him. Reese removed the cloth and Lois inspected his nose. It was still bleeding and a dark bruise was forming around it.

"Malcolm, go get some ice" Lois ordered as she replaced the cloth back to Reese's nose. When Malcolm left she glared at Reese.

"What were you thinking!" she yelled. Reese, confused, stared blankly at her.

"What?" he asked.

"You were keeping all these secrets from me. Why didn't you tell me you collapsed?" Reese didn't know what to say.

"I...uh-"

"Here's the ice. I got it as fast as I could!" Malcolm said as he burst into the room. Reese forgot about Lois and glared at Malcolm.

"You! You told her, didn't you?"

"Reese, I had to. You need help!"

"You promised me you wouldn't tell anyone," Reese jumped up. "I hate you Malcolm! I never wanna speak to..." Reese clutched his head as he started to sway. Knowing what was happening Lois grabbed him before he could fall though thankfully he hadn't lost consciousness.

"Reese, that's enough. Malcolm did the right thing coming to me, in fact you should be thanking your brother. As for you Malcolm, maybe you should go do your homework before you put Reese in a coma!" With one last unnoticed apologetic look at Reese, Malcolm did as he was told and Lois dragged Reese to her bedroom.

Malcolm sat at his desk trying to do homework while Dewey was reading a book on their bed. He was halfway through an essay when Dewey broke into his thoughts, which were mostly about Reese.

"What was going on before? Why was Reese so angry with you?"

"You heard that, huh?" Malcolm said, not looking up from his essay.

"It was a bit hard not to hear, the bathroom is right next door. Are you gonna answer me?" Dewey stared at Malcolm impatiently.

"Don't worry about it Dewey. Just keep reading your book." Dewey threw his book down and jumped up off the bed angrily.

"No!" Dewey yelled, which made Malcolm turn his attention to him. "No one is telling me anything and I for one am sick of it! Stop keeping me in the dark!" They stared at each other while Malcolm thought of what to do. Reese was already angry at him and he didn't really want Dewey to be angry at him as well so he put down his pencil and motioned for Dewey to sit on the bed.

"Reese was angry because I told mum something about him that I promised him I wouldn't." Malcolm said slowly.

"What did you tell her?" Malcolm rubbed his hand through his hair.

"I told her a lot of things..." he trailed off.

"Like what?" Dewey was growing impatient again, almost jumping from the bed again.

"I told her that I think Reese is sick." Malcolm spat out.

"Sick? Why would you think that?" Malcolm was beginning to get irritated.

"Dewey, I know you're too young for this but have you noticed that Reese has been...different lately?" Dewey looked down at his hands in thought.

"Well, I did think it was a bit strange that he got beaten up twice in 2 days."

"Uh, Dewey, I lied to you about the first one. That didn't happen." Malcolm revealed.

"What do you mean you lied to me? What did happen then?" Malcolm hesitated before looking straight into Dewey's eyes.

"You know how Reese said he was at the nurse's office yesterday?" Dewey nodded. "Well, he was there because he collapsed in class."

"He collapsed!" Dewey was shocked.

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing wrong with him and that's why mum is really worried about him."

"Oh," Dewey said softly as he went back to reading his book. Malcolm looked back down at his homework and added softly.

"Me too."

Lois and Hal were laying in bed that night, Hal reading a book and Lois lost in her thoughts. Sensing something was wrong with his wife, Hal broke the silence.

"Is there something wrong, honey?" he asked as he turned a page.

"Hal, can you put the book down for a minute?" Glancing at Lois's worried face Hal put the book down and lifted his glasses so they were sitting on the top of his head.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's Reese, Hal."

"Oh no, what's he done now?"

"No Hal, it's not that. I was talking to Malcolm today and he thinks that Reese could be really sick."

"Honey, I'm sure Reese is fine-"

"Hal, Malcolm also told me that Reese collapsed in class yesterday." Lois interrupted.

"Oh, that's not good" Hal said slowly.

"I know it's not good. That's why I'm going to take him to the doctor's. I've made an appointment for lunchtime tomorrow."

"Good thinking, honey." Hal smiled then turned serious. "Listen, I know that this is a bad situation but I'm sure that the doctor will put your mind at ease. You have to trust the doctor's because they always know best."

"Yes, I know Hal." Lois smiled. They gave each other a small kiss before Lois rolled over to sleep. Hal gave a light chuckle, picked up his book then gave a puzzled look.

"Honey, have you seen my glasses?"

The next morning Lois was in the kitchen when the phone rang. It was Francis.

"Hi mum, I was just wondering if you and dad have made a decision yet."

"Decision about what?"

"Don't you remember? I asked 2 days ago if Piama and I could sleep in the garage. You never got back to me."

"Oh sorry Francis. I forgot to tell you." On the other side of the phone Francis rolled his eyes. "Yes it's alright. Malcolm and Dewey have been cleaning it for you. It should be finished by the time you get here."

"Good" Francis said. "Why isn't Reese helping though? If he did it would get done faster."

"Reese hasn't been feeling well recently. I'm taking him to the doctor's today."

"What's wrong with him?" Francis asked, a little concerned.

"I'm not sure, Francis. Malcolm told me that he collapsed at school though." Lois told him.

"Geez, that's not good. I'm sure he's fine though. Sorry mum, I've gotta go now. One of the horses is picking a fight with the others. I'll talk to you later. Say hi to everyone for me."

"Will do, bye sweetie." Lois hung up the phone and called to the boys. "Boys, come here for breakfast before I serve it to you in smoothie form!" Malcolm and Dewey came running to the table and sat down, Hal shortly after. Lois gave them a bowl of cereal each and disappeared to the boy's bedroom where Reese was still laying in bed. Reese opened his eyes.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" Lois asked as she put her hand to her forehead.

"Alright" he answered. Lois frowned. He didn't look alright. He looked tired, his face was still pale and he had bruises on his nose and forehead.

"Don't lie to me," Lois almost snapped. Not knowing what to say Reese settled with sighing.

"I'm taking you to the doctors today so you can have the day off. Do you want me to bring you anything? Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"Not yet" Reese mumbled.

"I'll bring you in something a bit later. In the mean time get some rest." Lois left the room and Reese closed his eyes.

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I worked really hard on this chapter but to be honest I'm still not really happy with it. oh well, as long as I've given you guys more to read then I guess it's all good. Reviews are always welcome and once again, thanks for reading! I'll update asap.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay guys, I have some bad news unfortunately. I will be going to Bali in a couple of days so I wont be able to update for another couple of weeks, but the good news is I will be taking the story with me so I can keep writing it. Hopefully by the time I get back it will be completed and all I'll have to do is type it up and submit it. On to the chapter, its a bit of a short one but it is important to the story and although I tried there was not much else I could add to it to make it longer. I hope you still enjoy it though :) Just so that you know, the day of the week that the chapter is set in is a Wednesday.

Disclaimer: Read chapters 1 to 4.

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Chapter 6

"Now Reese," Lois began, "I know you haven't been honest with me about this but I want you to promise that you are going to tell the doctor everything." Reese kept staring out of his mother's car. For the first 10 minutes of their car ride to the doctors they had driven in silence and now that they were almost there, his mother had decided to talk. He was too tired to respond though. Reese felt the car stop at a traffic light.

"Reese, look at me" Lois ordered. Reese did as he was told and saw his mother's pleading eyes. "Please sweetie, this is really important." He nodded weakly at her then turned his attention back out the window. Lois, satisfied with the response, turned her attention back to the traffic and accelerated after the lights changed. The last few minutes of the car ride was filled with silence again, not even the radio was on. When Lois parked the car in the clinic parking lot Reese gingerly got out and was hit with the cool breeze. Although it was only light, it was painful to him. Crossing his arms over his chest in a tight embrace Reese followed his mother through the glass doors of the clinic.

"Go sit over there while I check you in." Lois gestured at 2 vacant seats in the waiting area and watched as Reese sat at the chair closest to the window.

"Hi," she said as she approached the woman at the counter. "My son Reese Wilkerson has an appointment at 12." The middle aged woman scanned through the appointment book.

"Oh yes, here he is. He'll be seeing Dr Bedson today. He just had a cancellation so it won't be too much longer."

"Thank you," Lois said. After she had paid she joined Reese in the waiting area. He was staring blankly out the window and was shaking slightly.

"Are you cold?" she asked.

"A little." Lois frowned but changed the subject.

"Now, I'm going to go in with you. I'm going to hear what the doctor say's and also make sure you tell the truth."

"Okay," Reese said, still looking out the window.

"Reese Wilkerson!" came a voice from the nearby hallway. Lois looked up and saw a stocky guy with a friendly smile plastered on his face.

"Okay, come on," she said to Reese as she stood up. She grabbed his arm and pulled him along as she followed the doctor to his office. It was a nice office, the walls were painted yellow, there was a desk by the window with a computer and photo's of his family and there was a bed standing on the right wall. Lois sat Reese down on the chair next to the desk and she sat on the one on the other side of him.

"Now," said Dr Bedson as he sat down on his own chair. "How can I help you today?" Not waiting for Reese to answer Lois spoke up.

"My son has been feeling unwell recently."

"Really? That's not good." He looked at Reese. "How have you been feeling unwell? What are your symptoms?"

"Uh," Reese stared at him blankly.

"He's been tired, he hasn't been eating and the other day he passed out at school." Lois cut in.

"You passed out!" he said to Reese. "Reese, how were you feeling before you passed out?"

"Dizzy." Reese mumbled.

"I see," mused the doctor, his smile gone. Then he looked at Lois. "You say he hasn't been eating?"

"Yes," said Lois.

"I think that might be why he passed out. It could also explain the fatigue. How long have you been feeling more tired, Reese?"

"Uh, about a month," Reese said, looking at the ceiling as he thought.

"And the loss of appetite, when did that start?"

"About the same time."

"Is there anything else? Have you been feeling depressed as well?"

"Not really, just tired."

"He's also had a fever the last couple of days." Lois cut in again.

"Okay, I'll just check your temperature then." Dr Bedson grabbed a circular instrument from his drawer and placed the back on Reese's forehead. After a few moments it beeped and he took it off and looked at it.

"Hmm, yes your temperature is a bit high. Have you been feeling congested? Blocked and runny nose? Sore throat? Sore ears?"

"I do have a sore throat but none of the rest."

"Okay, I'm just going to feel your throat. Can you lean your head back please?" Reese did as he was told and the doctor felt his throat. "Yes, your glands seem to be up. Have you been feeling any other pain?"

"Uh, my side has been hurting a bit."

"Whereabouts?" Dr Bedson asked. Reese pointed to his left side below his rib cage.

"Hmm, that's your spleen. Okay, I would say that you have mononucleosis. I would like to take a blood test if that's alright?" He glanced at Lois for her approval.

"Yes, that's alright doctor," she said.

"Okay, I'll be back in a moment," he said with a smile before disappearing out the door. Lois looked at Reese. He looked back.

"Mono, huh? Do you know what that is?" she asked.

"No."

"It's also known as the kissing disease. You don't have a secret girlfriend, do you?" she asked accusingly.

"No mum. I don't." Lois frowned but before she could say anything else Dr Bedson returned.

"Here we go," he proudly announced as he sat down with the equipment.

"Reese, I'll just need to move you over to the bed." Reese got up and moved to the bed while Dr Bedson followed with his chair. "Okay, now sit down and lay your arm on the bed. You look a little pale Reese, are you afraid of needles?"

"Not really," he answered as he placed his arm on the bed.

"Excellent. Now just relax your arm. It will be over soon." Reese closed his eyes as Lois watched the doctor prick his arm and extract 3 small tubes of Reese's blood.

"There you go, son. It's all done. You can open your eyes now." Dr Bedson chuckled. After his arm was bandaged Reese was moved back over to his place by the desk while the doctor filled out the paperwork.

"Alright," he said when he was done. "The results should come in by next Monday. In the mean time though make sure Reese get's plenty of fluids and rest," he said to Lois before turning to Reese. "Try to eat as much as you can. Food is important for your recovery."He finished with an award winning smile.

"Okay, thank you doctor." Lois thanked as she got up.

"No worries. If you have any questions after you leave call anytime."

"Thanks again." Lois smiled as she grabbed Reese by the arm and dragged him out of the clinic.

Lois was washing dishes when Malcolm and Dewey got home that afternoon which was a refreshing change from being ambushed at the front door. Together they walked into the kitchen and ambushed their mother like they had planned.

"Well?" demanded Malcolm with Dewey standing next to him.

"Well what?" asked Lois, not turning away from the dishes.

"What did the doctor say?"

"Oh, he said that Reese has mono."

"Oh, okay."

"Speaking of Reese," Lois turned to face them. "He's asleep now but I left some food for him. Malcolm can you go get the plate so I can wash it? Make sure you don't wake him though, your brother is very tired and needs his rest."

"Okay," Malcolm huffed. Dumping his bag on the kitchen table, which earned a nasty look from his mother, he walked to his bedroom. When he got there he saw the plate with an uneaten sandwich on it but Reese wasn't in bed. Panicking, Malcolm ran to the bed when he heard a noise which came from the bathroom. The door was open so he peeped inside to see Reese at the sink cleaning what looked like blood from his arm.

"Reese, what's going on?" he burst out. At the sound of Malcolm's voice Reese's head shot up with an angry glare on his face.

"Leave me alone!" Reese yelled.

"What! You're not still angry with me are you?" Malcolm exclaimed. Instead of answering Reese pushed past him back into their shared room.

"What is going on here?" yelled Lois, who was now standing at their bedroom doorway. "Malcolm, I thought I told you not to wake Reese! And Reese, get back in bed!"

"It's not my fault! He was already out of bed," Malcolm protested.

"I don't care Malcolm. I asked you to do one simple thing and you can't do it properly. Go do your homework in the kitchen and leave Reese alone. Now!" Without grabbing the plate Malcolm rushed out of the room, glancing back to see his mother helping his brother back to bed.

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Okay, even though Reese was given a diagnosis in this chapter I would just like to let you know that the story is not over and I still have bigger things planned. So make sure you keep reading. As I said before, I wont be able to update for a couple of weeks but keep reviewing, they are always appreciated :)


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, so you would think that after so many weeks without an update this chapter would be longer right? well, i would've thought so too so i apologise for not only the chapter length but for the long delay as well. Even though I promised that the story would be completed by now I unfortunately didn't get much of an opportunity to write while I was in Bali. I blame my parents for that, they kept forcing me to oput for dinner and such and such. Anyway, I am back in business now. I think i wrote this whole chapter while I was in Bali but when I was typing it up today I changed the storyline significantly. Alright, I hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: Read chapter 1-4

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Chapter 7

"Reese, wake up sweetie." Reese slowly opened his eyes to see a blurred version of his mother. She was sitting on his bed, leaning slightly over him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Reese answered. Lois smiled.

"You are looking better, would you like something to eat?"

"Yeah, thanks mum."

"Alright, I'll be back in a moment." Lois walked out of the boy's room. Reese closed his eyes again.

It had been 2 days since he was at the doctors and because of his mother he was feeling better. The day before he had gotten plenty of rest and ate 2 meals and a snack. Although he was still a little pale and weak, things were going right for him.

His family had also shown their support in their own little ways. Lois had waited on him hand and foot, Hal had bought him some magazines and Dewey had read to him, even giving him a hug when Reese said he was too tired to hear the end of the story. Francis had also called the night before and spoke to him asking him how he was doing, sending him love from Piama and promising that on the weekend they would pull pranks on unsuspecting citizens of the street.

Then there was Malcolm. 3 days ago Reese had told him he hated him. 2 days ago Reese had made it clear that he was still angry. After that Reese had assumed that Malcolm would be angry at him, grumpy towards him and giving him the silent treatment. Although they hadn't said much to each other since then, Malcolm didn't seem to be angry or grumpy. In fact, whenever Reese had seen him Malcolm still had a look of concern plastered to his face. Then it hit Reese.

'After everything I said to him,' Reese thought, 'he's still concerned about me. I'm a terrible brother.' Still lying on the bed, Reese grabbed his head with his hands as guilt overcame him. He didn't hate his brother for spilling the beans; in fact his mother was right. He should be thanking Malcolm. He was feeling better but somehow thanking him wasn't enough. He had to make things right again. What could he do though? Suddenly, an idea formed in his brain.

"Okay, here you go sweetie. A nice healthy sandwich with some juice. This will give you your strength back in no time." Lois marvelled at her creation as she put it on Reese's bed.

"Mum, what time is it?" Reese asked, forgetting about the food.

"Uh, it's a few minutes before 12. Why?"

"Can you drive me to school?"

"What? Why?"

"I have to go to school. Please mum, I'm feeling a lot better now." Reese looked up at her with pleading eyes. Lois stared at him for a moment before deciding.

"Absolutely not, mister. Here's what you're going to do. You are going to stay in bed while you eat your sandwich and drink your drink and I'm going to return for your dishes in half an hour. If you are not still in bed when I do return, I don't care if you are sick, there will be hell to pay!" Making it even more dramatic Lois stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Feeling let down, Reese threw his head back into the pillow. Then he had an idea. Tilting his head to the side, he looked up at the window.

It was 1 o clock and Reese was running. It hadn't been easy sneaking out of the house; his weakened state had made sure of that. He ended up skipping his meal in favour of getting dressed, which was surprisingly difficult and time consuming. By the time he was dressed he only had about 10 minutes before his mother would be back. Then there was the window, he struggled to pull it open all the way. His muscles ached by the end but he knew it would all be worth it.

Once he was in the backyard he didn't care if his mother saw him, he raced through to the street and then kept on running. His energy only lasted a couple of houses but his determination got him all the way to the school. When he reached the gates he slowed his pace to a walk and heard the 1 o clock bell ring. Lunchtime was over and the crowds were rushing to get back into the school halls. For Reese this meant that he only had a few minutes before he would miss his chance. He picked up his pace again and ran through the crowds into the hallways, ducking and dodging to avoid collisions. Then he saw who he was looking for. There, extracting books from his locker, was Malcolm.

Malcolm had had a tiring day. For most of the week he had lost sleep and the school work hadn't helped. He was only just able to find the energy to eat his lunch and when he closed his eyes for a quick nap, he was rudely awoken by the bell, signalling the end of lunchtime.

Regaining his composure he trudged his way back to his locker, telling himself that the day, no the week, was almost over and in a couple of hours he could get as much rest as he needed. At the thought of his bedroom, he thought of Reese. His brother was still angry with him which was getting him down even more. Even though he had been given a diagnosis Malcolm was still concerned for his brother. When he was told what was wrong it actually took Malcolm a couple of hours to accept it. In the end he decided that mono made sense but he wouldn't be satisfied until Reese was 100% better. Nothing would change the way he felt, not even if Reese never did speak to him again.

Malcolm was broken out of his thoughts when he realized he had gone past his locker. Rushing back to it, he proceeded to open it. 3 combination tries and some cursing and banging later the door opened and he grabbed his books.

"Malcolm!" a voice that sounded like Reese called. Only it couldn't be Reese, he was supposed to be home in bed and he most definitely would not be calling Malcolm's name at the current time.

"I must be more tired then I thought. I'm delusional." Malcolm muttered to himself.

"Malcolm!" There it was again. This time Malcolm's curiosity got the better of him and he looked down the hall in the direction it came from. With a bit of luck it would be a cute girl wanting to ask him out. He gasped when he saw that it was Reese running towards him.

"Reese, where's the cute girl? Uh, never mind. What are you doing here?" Malcolm asked as Reese reached him. Before Reese answered he lifted his hand to the locker next to him and leant on it heavily.

"I had to...come and...tell you..." Reese puffed. He was red in the face and was wobbling. "...that I don't...hate you...and I'm...sorry." he finally puffed out. It took a few moments for Malcolm to register what was going on. It took even longer for him to think of a response.

"It's okay Reese. But you didn't have to come here and tell me that."

"Yes I did Malcolm. I said some terrible things to you when all you were trying to do was help me. Mum was right, I should be thanking you," he finished with a weak smile. Malcolm smiled back and tried to hide the water that had appeared in his eyes.

"Reese, you're my brother and when there's something wrong it's a brother's duty to help." Malcolm paused. "I'm glad you don't hate me anymore."

"Yeah, me too. You're a good brother, Malcolm." They both grinned at each other. Suddenly, Reese's grin disappeared and was replaced with a look of pain. He doubled over and clutched at his side.

"Reese! What's wrong?" Malcolm almost screamed in panic. Reese slowly lifted his head to face Malcolm, his face was white as a ghost.

"Malcolm..." he whispered right before he fell backwards and lost consciousness.

"REESE!"

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Ooh, cliffhanger. sorry to leave you guys hanging, i'll update soon. In the mean time reviews will be appreciated and since you've been so patient i'll give you a free pass to yell at me for the long delay.


	8. Chapter 8

YAY! Another chapter! arent you guys lucky :P Anyway, i felt bad about the last chapter being so short so I decided to update a little earlier then i usually do (i try to update once a week) so here you go, enjoy!

Disclaimer: See chapters 1-4.

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Chapter 8

"REESE!" Malcolm yelled as he scrambled to a kneeling position by his fallen brother. Reese's face was pale, his eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open. In his panicked state Malcolm couldn't tell if his brother was still breathing. Around him students were walking through the hallway, some of them beginning to crowd around to see what was going on.

"Somebody please get help! Please!" Malcolm pleaded to them.

"Don't worry, we saw what happened and Greg has already gone to get the principal." Sam, a boy in Malcolm's class said. More and more people gathered round as they walked past, some of them gasping when they saw Reese laying on the floor. Malcolm turned away from them and looked at his brother.

"Reese, please wake up, you gotta wake up." Malcolm pleaded, fresh tears forming in his eyes. Malcolm half expected Reese to rip open his eyes, jump up and laugh saying "Haha, I fooled you Malcolm. I fooled you big time!" But it didn't happen. Reese didn't move, just continued to lay there on the cold floor. When it became apparent that it wasn't a prank, Malcolm grabbed Reese's hand in both of his own. It was ice cold. The tears Malcolm had tried to hold back suddenly fell and he dug his face into his forearm.

"Reese, please wake up," he whispered.

"Alright, alright. What's going on here?" a voice thundered. Malcolm's tears disappeared as he looked up to see the principal bustling his way through the still growing crowd.

"Reese collapsed," said a voice. The principal pushed through the last few students in his way and knelt down over Reese to take a look.

"Oh my," he muttered to himself. "Is this your brother Malcolm?"

"Yes." Malcolm said, not caring that his face was stained with tears. The principal quickly dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. When the principal stood up and moved away Malcolm took no notice of what was going on. All he could do was clutch onto Reese's hand and whisper softly to it. When the paramedics arrived he vaguely remembered being pushed aside so they could examine Reese. Malcolm watched in a daze as they tried to resuscitate him. Then when they stopped, one of them turned to Malcolm.

Lois was vacuuming when she remembered to check on Reese. She had been so caught up in her house chores that she forgot all about him and the threat she had made.

"Quarter to one!" she cried out as she checked her watch. Quickly she turned off the vacuum, unplugged it and calmly walked to the boy's room. She opened the door and was surprisingly unsurprised at what she saw. Reese was gone and he hadn't even bothered to hide it. His bed sheets were pulled back, his night clothes had been thrown on the floor and the window was still wide open.

Usually Lois would've started yelling, screaming and running aimlessly around the house when she saw this sight. But this time the little part of her that was worried told her that doing that wouldn't help. So, gaining her composure back she remembered that Reese had wanted to be taken to the school.

"So that must be where he is" she muttered. "Well if he thinks he can outsmart me then I'll teach him. I'll catch him in the act and drag him home by the ears. No, make it by his teeth." She spoke devilishly.

So grabbing her handbag she pulled out her keys and jumped into her car. On the way to the school she didn't see him.

"Good, embarrassing him in front of his classmates will be better."

She kept driving until she reached the car park and turned off the engine. By that time it was just after 1 o clock and the few remaining students outside were making their way inside. Then she spotted Reese. It looked like he was trying to run but couldn't quite gain the right speed.

In that instant Lois realized that whatever it was that he was planning to do nothing would break his determination. Feeling a change of heart, Lois decided to leave him for now. She would catch him as he was leaving and then do what she had planned.

So she turned on the radio and sat back to listen to her favourite talk show host. She was really getting into it when she spotted an ambulance drive through the school gates, sirens coming to a stop at the same time as the car. Reese still hadn't made his way out so fearing the worst, Lois followed the paramedics inside.

"It's Malcolm, isn't it?" asked the paramedic.

"Yes. Please, you have to help my brother."

"We're doing all we can, son."

"Oh my god! Reese!" Malcolm looked up in alarm. That was his mother's voice. In a quick few seconds she was standing by Malcolm's side. "Malcolm, what happened?"

"It happened so fast, mum. He came to apologise to me and then he grabbed his side and fell back..." Malcolm stopped as he began to sob. Lois, on the brink of tears herself, put her arm around him and held him close.

"Wait, which side did he grab?" asked the paramedic.

"His left side," choked Malcolm. That was all he needed to hear. The paramedic rushed back to Reese and felt his abdomen.

"Feels like his spleen has ruptured," he said to his partner. "We need to get him to the ER, stat." Together they mounted Reese onto a gurney and wheeled him down the hall, presumably to the awaiting ambulance. Everyone followed with Malcolm, Lois and the principal in the lead.

"It's going to be okay, Malcolm. Everything is going to be fine. They'll take Reese to the hospital and he'll wake up and we'll be back home before you know it." As Lois said the words, Malcolm realized she was closer to breaking point then he was. She was looking pale with tears in her eyes and clutching Malcolm a little hard, but he didn't care. They were both too worried about Reese to care about anything else at all. As Reese was lifted into the ambulance the principal turned around to face the crowd.

"As far as I'm aware, classes resumed 20 minutes ago. So if I were you I would get going. There's nothing more to see here." A lot of the students groaned but did as they were told. The principal then turned to Malcolm, who was still wrapped in his mother's arms.

"That means you too, Malcolm. Your mother can ride in the ambulance but you have to go to class."

"What? No way. I'm not leaving my brother!"

"Come on Malcolm. Only one person can ride with Reese and you can't drive your mother's car.

"Then I'll ride with him and Mum can drive behind!" Malcolm was yelling now. He looked at his mother for approval. She stared blankly back at him.

"I think that would be the best thing to do," she replied, surprisingly calm.

"Well, alright then" said the principal, defeated. "Quick then, Malcolm. Jump in."

Malcolm didn't need to be told twice. He quickly ripped himself from his mother's grip and jumped into the vehicle. One of the ambulance officers was talking to his mother, probably giving her directions to the hospital, but the other one was hooking Reese up to some tubes. A constant beeping sound was beeping right behind his right shoulder but all Malcolm could focus on was his brother.

There was still no colour in his face but there was a mask over his mouth and nose. Every couple of seconds a small mist would appear and disappear on the inside of the mask. Relief washed over Malcolm as he realized that Reese was breathing. And that constant beeping noise must be his pulse. Reese was still alive!

"Your brother is in a stable condition for now but we have to hurry. It could change at any moment." The paramedic told him, like he was reading his mind. Malcolm could only nod. Slowly, he sat by Reese's side and grabbed his hand.

"Please be okay," he whispered into it. Malcolm didn't notice the doors behind him slam shut or when the ambulance began moving.

Hal was busy at his desk in his work cubicle playing cards when suddenly the phone rang. In his haste to pick it up he knocked some of the cards fell off the desk and Hal gave an annoyed grunt.

"Hello, this is Hal" he said in the most professional voice he could muster.

"Hal, it's me," Lois said on the other end. She sounded upset and panicked.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Hal felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. After a long pause and a noise that sounded like a sob Lois spoke.

"It's Reese," was all she could get out.

"What happened?" all of the blood rushed to Hal's face.

"It's a long story. The short of it is his spleen ruptured, he collapsed and now he's in the operating theatre." Lois choked out. "Malcolm and I are already at the hospital but I need you to pick up Dewey and bring him here."

"Of course, honey. I'm on my way now." After they said goodbye Hal jumped from his chair and ran out of the building, leaving his jackets and the cards behind.

Dewey would like to think that he is a patient boy; in fact he would tell that to anyone who asked. But the truth was that he wasn't. It pained him to be standing around waiting for his brother's after school every day and this time was no exception.

His school would normally finish half an hour after his brothers' school did which meant that they had plenty of time to make it to the meeting spot before Dewey did. Yet here he was, standing all alone on a corner, waiting. He had been there for 10 minutes and Malcolm still hadn't shown up. To say he was getting angry was an understatement.

"Where are you, Malcolm!" he screamed into an empty street. Of course no one answered him but he did hear a car horn beep. Turning to where the sound came from, he saw his father's car approaching him. He watched as it slowly drove towards him then pulled up next to him. Then the window wound down.

"Jump in, Dewey. I'm picking you up today." His father's sombre voice sounded through the open window.

"Okay," Dewey said without a second thought. He opened the door, threw his backpack in and climbed into the back seat. For a moment the car didn't move.

"Dad, are we going home? Where's Malcolm?" Hal sighed, trying to figure out the best way to tell his youngest son.

"Son, we're not going home just yet. Both Malcolm and your mother are at the hospital."

"The hospital? Why?"

"Well, while you were at school today something bad happened to Reese. So bad that he had to be taken to hospital to have an operation. Your mother has asked me to take you there now."

"Oh, okay." Dewey replied back, letting the words sink into his mind.

"Alright then. Off we go," said a not so cheerful Hal as he pulled onto the road and drove away.

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Alright, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! As always reviews are always welcome :) and just to let you know, Francis and Piama will make their first appearance in the next chapter :) I'll update as soon as I can.


	9. Chapter 9

Oh man, sorry this took so long (again!) I have just been really busy recently and havent had time to do much. As promised Francis and Piama (for some reason my fingers always spell her name as Paima) make their first appearance in this fic and will most likely stay there until the end. As always I hope you like it and the chapter lives up to your expectations.

Disclaimer: Read chapters 1-4

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Chapter 9

"Well, here we are." Francis announced cheerfully as he drove into the driveway of his parents house. Piama grinned at him.

"Nice driving honey, but I'm glad to finally be able to get out of the car."

"Oh god, I know what you mean. Hey, wait a minute," Francis looked at the house and realized that even though it was dark outside there didn't appear to be any lights on inside.

"That's odd. It doesn't look like anyone's home." He and Piama exchanged looks.

"You did tell them we would be here tonight, didn't you?" Piama asked.

"Yeah, of course I did. " Then Francis paused. "You know, I bet they forgot about me. Damn, they always do this!" Francis said angrily.

"Oh well, we might as well get out of the car. You remember where they hide the spare key, don't you?"

"Yep, I'll get the key while you get the bags" Francis said. Piama rolled her eyes at having to lift the heavy bags but did as she was told. Not long after she had heaved them out, Francis returned with the spare key in his hand.

"Alright, let's go inside. We may as well make ourselves comfortable," Francis winked and Piama returned it with a cheeky grin. Once inside, they placed their bags in the lounge room and Francis turned on a couple of lights.

"So what do you wanna do now?" Francis asked his wife. Piama grinned.

"Do you think we could make something to eat? I'm starving."

"Me too. Come on, honey." Francis led Piama into the kitchen and he stuck his head into the fridge. While he was searching Piama heard a noise coming from outside. She looked out the window and saw a car pull into the driveway. It was Lois.

"Francis, your mother is home" she told him. Francis abruptly pulled his head out of the fridge.

"Oh good. I can give her a piece of my mind about her forgetting about me again." With that he strolled to the front door with Piama close behind. At the first sight of his mother walking through the door though, Francis quickly changed his mind. His mother didn't look like herself. She was tense and frazzled and looked so tired she could have been 10 years older.

"Mum, what's going on?" he asked instead. It took a moment for Lois to realize that it was Francis.

"Oh Francis. You're here." She walked over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Hello, Piama" she said as she released Francis.

"Hello, Lois." Piama greeted, a little concerned.

"So Mum, what's going on, where is everyone?" Francis repeated.

"Oh, they're all at the hospital..." Lois trailed off.

"Hospital! What happened?" Francis asked with a hint of panic in his voice.

"It's Reese. It was worse than we thought. His spleen ruptured today and he had to have emergency surgery on it." Lois said quietly.

"Oh god..." Francis was shocked. Piama wrapped her arms around him.

"I actually only came home to get some things for Reese. Like some bed clothes. Something he'll feel more comfortable in."

"Okay Mum. We'll help you." Francis said and Piama nodded her head in agreement. A sad smile crept along Lois' face.

"Oh thank you. Do you want to come with me back to the hospital?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course we'll come. Maybe I should drive though. Just to give you a break." Francis suggested.

"Are you sure Francis? You have been driving all day."

"Yeah I'm sure. I'm getting pretty good at it actually." Francis said with a small smile. Lois smiled back.

"Thanks Francis. Oh, I'd better get Reese's things." Lois and Francis went to get a few things for Reese while Piama stayed in the kitchen and made the family some sandwiches. When they were ready they all got into Lois' car and Francis drove his mother and wife to the hospital.

Back at the hospital Malcolm, Hal and Dewey were all waiting in the waiting room. Hal and Dewey were sitting side by side huddled closely together while Malcolm was sitting a couple of chairs away. No one had spoken a word since Lois had left and they were still waiting to hear any news about Reese.

"Man, this is crazy!" Malcolm suddenly wailed. "I wish they would hurry up and tell us what's going on. We've been waiting here for hours."

"I know, Malcolm. But these things take time so you just have to be patient." Even Hal was surprised at the words that came out of his mouth. In truth, he was feeling exactly the same as his son but after years of experience he'd learnt to hide his restlessness. Dewey snuggled in closer to Hal so he put his arm around him.

"Look, I know you are worried about your brother, we all are, but you have to realize that stressing about it is not going to make you feel any better. Why don't you go for a walk or read a magazine. That will take your mind off things." Hal stared at Malcolm waiting for a response but Malcolm just continued to sit there, his head in his palm and his knees pulled in tightly to his chest. Hal then had a sudden wave of sympathy for Malcolm. He had had no idea how this could have been affecting his son, if it was at all, but now Hal knew that Malcolm truly cared about Reese, in fact probably all of his family.

"That's a good trait there you have, son." Hal accidently said out loud.

"Huh?" Malcolm and Dewey stared at their father.

"Uh, never mind," Hal answered a little frazzled.

"Uh, Mr. Wilkerson?" a doctor in scrubs called from the hallway.

"Yes that's me," Hal called back quickly as he rushed over to where the doctor was standing, Malcolm and Dewey close behind. "How is my son?"

"Your son is in a stable condition. I am pleased to inform you that the surgery went well and he got through it nicely." Hal and Malcolm breathed a sigh of relief.

"So how did this happen, doctor? Why would his spleen suddenly rupture like that?" Hal asked.

"When we removed it we found that it had grown about 3 times larger than it should be. Your wife did mention that your son had been unwell recently so that's probably what caused the growth." The doctor explained. Malcolm didn't care about the explanations though; he only cared for one thing.

"Can we see him now?" he asked. The doctor looked down at him and smiled.

"Of course you can. Though be aware that he has just come out of major surgery and he hasn't woken up yet." The doctor then motioned for them to follow him and he led them down the hall and into one of the rooms on the right. "There you are. He'll probably be happy to see you when he does wake up. If he needs anything just press that red button over there and a nurse will come and help."

"Thank you doctor," Hal shook the doctor's hand and with a slight nod of the head the doctor exited the room and disappeared down the hall. Without another thought Malcolm rushed to the bed where his sleeping brother was lying. An IV was attached to the back of his hand and the oxygen mask had now been replaced with nasal cannula, which left Reese's mouth uncovered and slightly open.

"He looks so peaceful." Hal said from behind Malcolm. Malcolm sighed. Noticing a couple of chairs Malcolm grabbed one and pulled it towards Reese's bedside. Hal and Dewey followed suit and soon they were all sitting on either side of the bed, Hal and Dewey on one side and Malcolm on the other. After what seemed like ages, Malcolm couldn't contain it anymore and he silently grabbed Reese's hand. The room stayed silent for a while, the only noise was the beeping coming from the heart rate monitor. All eyes were focused on Reese. No one dared to turn away in case they missed something important, that something being any sign of Reese waking up.

Then Malcolm felt it. At first he wasn't quite sure if he was imagining things but when it happened again he knew it was real. A smile crept on his face as he turned to his father.

"He just squeezed my hand. He's waking up!" Malcolm couldn't contain his excitement. Hal's jaw dropped and was left hanging as they all turned back to Reese.

"Come on Reese, wake up" Malcolm urged. In the next moments Reese began to stir. First his breathing became deeper and then his face scrunched up before relaxing again.

"Malcolm..." a soft voice whispered.

"I'm here, Reese. Just open your eyes." After what seemed like an eternity, Reese's eyes opened. When his vision finally cleared the sight that he saw was sheer happiness. His father and his brothers looked like complete wrecks yet they were still able to smile through it. In the silence Hal started stroking Reese's hair, brushing it away from his face.

"Hey son, how are you feeling?" he asked when he found his voice. Reese wasn't sure how to answer that so he asked a question instead.

"What happened?" his voice sounded weak. The expression on Hal's face changed from relieved to sombre.

"Well son, you just had a major operation. Your spleen was enlarged and it ruptured. Don't worry though, the doctor's removed it successfully." Hal explained slowly while trying to keep the happy atmosphere.

"Oh" Reese breathed as he closed his tired eyes again. Just then loud footsteps could be heard in the hallway. It sounded like there were a couple of people who were all approaching fast. Malcolm turned around just in time to see the faces of Lois, Francis and Piama appear in the doorway. Hal got up from his chair and walked over to his wife, greeting Francis and Piama simultaneously.

"Is he alright? What's going on?" Lois asked quickly. All three of them stared at Hal, waiting earnestly for an answer.

"I think he's alright, he just woke up then." Hal told them. Francis and Piama gave out sighs of relief as Lois rushed over to the bedside next to Dewey.

"Hey sweetie," she said softly while putting her hand on his forehead. Reese opened his eyes again.

"Hi Mum," he breathed. Francis and Piama joined Malcolm on his side of the bed as Hal joined Lois and Dewey. "I'm sorry for sneaking out like that" Reese's weak voice continued.

"Oh sweetie, that doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that you're alright." Lois said, her eyes becoming watery.

"You gave us quite a scare there, bro," Francis spoke for the first time. "When you get better I promise to spend more time with you, starting with me punching you in the shoulder for scaring us like that." Lois and Hal glared at Francis, Piama gave a small smile, Malcolm and Dewey chuckled a little and Reese breathed out a word that sounded like "Okay." Then a nurse came in.

"I'm sorry," she said gently, "but visiting hours just ended for the night. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

"Oh, okay." Lois said sadly. "Well, we'd better go then. Bye sweetie." She leant over and kissed Reese's forehead while giving him a hug. Then everybody else said their goodbye's and made to leave the room.

"Goodnight Reese." Malcolm said. As he was about to let go of his brother's hand he felt it grip him tighter. He turned back around and stared at Reese.

"Are we still alright?" Reese asked, his eyes wide open.

"Yeah, of course we are." Malcolm answered with a smile. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, great. I'll see you then." Reese returned the smile and when everyone had gone he closed his eyes.

Malcolm opened the window of the car so he could feel the fresh air against his face. Getting home from the hospital was taking longer than he had thought; the traffic was busy for a Friday night. Out in the hospital car park the family had to separate as they had taken 2 cars. So Hal, Lois and Dewey went in Hal's car which meant Malcolm, Francis and Piama were in Lois' car. After so long since the brother's had seen each other Francis had thought that Malcolm would be chatty but instead he just sat there, staring out the open window.

"Is everything alright, Mal?" Francis asked while glancing in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, I guess." Malcolm murmured softly.

"You don't look alright, is there anything you want to talk about?" Francis persisted. Malcolm shifted his glance to the rear view mirror where he saw his oldest brother's worried eyes staring back at him. Malcolm sighed. Now that everything had turned out alright Malcolm had stopped worrying and started looking back on the day's events. Everything had been processed and he had come to a realization. A realization that scared him.

"I... I thought I lost my brother today." His voice shook a little as he said it. Hearing those words broke Francis' heart. He looked over to his wife in the passenger's seat and found that she had felt the same thing.

"Hey," Francis started, "don't worry Malcolm. It's all over now and Reese is going to be fine. He made it through the toughest part and it will all get easier from here. You'll see." Malcolm looked down at his hands that were entwined in his lap.

"I was so scared..." he trailed off.

"Malcolm," Piama said gently. Malcolm looked up and saw her eyes gazing at him. He gazed back at her. "You don't need to worry anymore. It's going to be okay. We all know that Reese is a fighter and he will pull through this. You just have to be confident in him and before you know it Reese will be back to normal again." Piama said with a small smile.

Memories of the old Reese started flooding through Malcolm's mind. Reese had always been the bully of the family, a trait that was probably inherited from their maternal grandparents. He would always torture and pull pranks on his brothers and even though Malcolm hated him for that, he also realized that that's what made him who he was. Reese. But then one day the old Reese disappeared and in its place was the Reese of today, lying in a hospital bed probably fighting for his life. This new one depressed Malcolm. He never thought that he would want this but right at that moment he would've given anything to get the old Reese back. He wanted his brother back. Malcolm was pulled out of his thoughts when he realized that Piama was talking again.

"I know what will make you feel better," she turned around and began digging into a bag that was by her feet. When her hands re-emerged she was holding a sandwich.

"I heard you haven't eaten in a while so I thought you might be hungry." Piama held it out to him. At the sight of the food Malcolm's stomach gave a growl.

"Thanks." Malcolm smiled and took the sandwich. He then started eating it greedily, not even realizing how hungry he was until it was all gone. Starting to finally feel content with his stomach full, Malcolm closed his eyes and fell asleep, not even waking up when they got home.

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Thanks for reading :) And just in case you've forgotten reviews are always appreciated :)


	10. Chapter 10

So I'm finally back! Gee it's been a long time, what would it be now...2 years maybe? Well anyway I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, along with getting writers block this chapter seemed to be quite difficult for me to write so I left it for as long as I could pretty much. I had to do a bit of research for a part of it (you'll find out which bit) and it kind of put me off but I hope its all accurate but if not I apologize in advance. Anyway, for those of you who are still with me you guys are awesome and also welcome to any new readers I may have :) So without further ado, here's what you've all been waiting for! Hope you enjoy it :)

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Chapter 10

The next morning the family got up bright and early and after breakfast they headed straight for the hospital. Malcolm, feeling refreshed after the long nights sleep, was eager to see his brother again and when they got there they found Reese leaning over a bowl of cereal with a nurse standing next to him. When she saw the family she smiled sweetly at them.

"When he woke up he said he was hungry so I gave him some breakfast. Well I'll leave you to it then," she told them as she bustled out of the room.

"Hi," Reese greeted in between mouthfuls.

"Reese, you've got your appetite back!" Lois exclaimed. She rushed over to him and gave him a hug. "It's great to see you're feeling better," she beamed down at him. Reese returned the smile with a smile of his own, something his family hadn't seen in a while. Seeing his brother smile again gave Malcolm a good feeling inside which in turn forced a smile upon his face. As the rest of the family gathered around Reese's bed the feeling told him that his brother was finally getting better.

The next couple of hours went by fast with Dewey and Francis occupying most of the time by asking Reese a lot of questions. Dewey would ask the childish ones like "Did you wake up during the surgery when they cut into you?", "Did the doctor's faint when they saw you wake up?" and "Do you feel empty without your spleen?" Francis though asked the more serious ones that a caring older brother would ask. Throughout the questioning Malcolm noticed Reese growing more and more uncomfortable and when Francis started lecturing him about running away from the house when he was sick his flushed face began growing pale again. Thinking that all the questioning and lecturing was flustering Reese Malcolm suggested they play a game with a deck of cards they had brought from home. This seemed to excite Dewey and to a much lesser extent Reese and so Francis had no choice but to stop his lecturing and agree to play.

A little way away, watching from one of the corners Lois and Hal sat. Hal was telling Lois about a random event that happened at work but Lois had tuned out for most of it. All she made out was that it involved clowns, a step ladder and a flying cake. It wasn't that she didn't care, she was just too busy thinking. She couldn't quite place what the problem was but she knew it had something to do with Reese. She looked over at her second son who was lying in a hospital bed playing cards with his brothers and Piama. The smile that had appeared on his face when they arrived had vanished and the twinkle in his eyes was gone.

'Maybe he's tired' she thought to herself. It was then that she realized Hal was asking a question. "What?" she asked.

"Honey, are you okay? Usually when I finish telling a wacky work story when they arrived had vanished and the twinkle in his eyes were gone.

'Maybe he's tired' she thought to herself. It was then that she realized Hal was asking a question. "What?" she asked.

"Honey, are you okay? Usually when I finish telling a wacky work story you come up with a witty remark." Hal's voice and eyes were full of concern.

"Hal, everything's fine" she answered quickly.

"Are you sure?" Both of them stared deeply into each other's eyes, Hal intent on getting the truth. Finally Lois broke.

"No Hal, everything's not fine. At least it doesn't feel that way."

"What is it, honey? Is it Reese? The doctor said he's gonna be fine so you don't have to worry anymore." Hal explained.

"Yes, I know Hal. But when a mother feels that her baby's in trouble the mothers usually right. Call it maternal instinct and right now my instinct is telling me that something is still not right with Reese." Lois stared at Hal with pleading eyes. He couldn't quite tell if she was pleading for him to believe he or pleading for him to prove that she was wrong and Reese was going to be fine. Not knowing how to respond he did what he usually does in that situation. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him, giving her a light kiss on the side of her forehead to comfort her. Lois welcomed the affection and rested her head on her husband's shoulder, both turning their attention back to Reese's bed.

"Dewey I've already told you" cried out an annoyed Malcolm "you can't possibly be holding a 5 right now. I have one pair and Reese has the other so stop asking us if we have any 5's!"

"Well the number in my hand is quite clearly a 5, Malcolm. If you don't believe me then here!" an angry Dewey plucked the card out of his hand and turned it around so everyone could see. Sure enough he was holding a 5.

"You know what?" Francis started "I've been holding onto this queen for a while now and there are only a couple of cards left." Before anybody could stop him Francis grabbed the deck off the bed and searched through them. "The other one's not here!" he exclaimed "What kind of a deck of cards is this!"

"Francis calm down, it's all just a bit of fun" Piama put in.

"Oh you're just saying that because you're winning." Francis countered. Piama grinned.

"This game is stupid. I knew we should've brought something else." Dewey cried out.

"Dewey, the only games you wanted to bring were childish board games with most of the pieces missing!" Malcolm retorted and Reese rolled his eyes. Lois and Hal watched as an argument ensued. No one seemed to notice when a doctor walked in a couple of minutes later.

"Ahem" the doctor cleared his throat which got the attention of the family. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Hi, my name is Dr Lukas." Before he could continue Hal got up and shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Dr Lukas. What can we do for you? Are you here to tell us that we can take Reese home now?"

"Unfortunately, no" Dr Lukas said with a pained expression on his face. "A couple of hours ago we became aware that your son had a blood test earlier in the week."

"Yes, what about it?" Lois asked as she stood up from her chair.

"We decided to chase up the results and I'm afraid it's not good news. We found a high level of white cells in his blood and because this could be quite serious we'll need to run another test."

"What kind of test?" Malcolm asked, knowing and dreading the answer simultaneously.

"A bone marrow biopsy" Dr Lukas answered. Everyone looked at Malcolm, who was looking a little distressed.

"Are you sure that's necessary? Isn't there some other test you could do first?" Malcolm raised his voice slightly and jumped up from where he was sitting on the bed.

"I'm sorry, but if this is serious we'll need to find out sooner rather than later for your brothers benefit." Dr Lukas explained. Defeated, Malcolm sat back down an glanced at Reese who clearly had no idea what was going on. "Now Mr and Mrs Wilkerson, may I have a word with you outside, please?" The doctor headed for the hallway with Lois and Hal following. When they were out of earshot Dr Lukas continued talking.

"Are you aware of what the bone marrow biopsy procedure is?" he asked. Both Lois and Hal looked at each other. "No" Lois answered for both of them.

"Well the procedure is invasive and could be quite painful for your son and we will need your consent first."

"What does the procedure involve?" Lois asked, feeling a little worried.

"A needle will be inserted into Reese's hipbone-"

"No, no stop!" cried out Hal who was becoming squeamish. "We'll consent! Just stop talking about it!"

"Okay then. Because of Reese's age though my recommendation is for a family member to be present to give him the necessary support."

"Alright, that makes sense." Lois murmured. She exchanged looks with Hal who was looking flushed and flustered. He clearly wouldn't be able to do it, just talking about medical procedures made him uncomfortable so he would be no help to Reese. In fact, he would probably make Reese feel worse. So that left her.

"I'll do it" an unexpected voice came from the doorway of Reese's room. Lois and Hal spun around to see Francis looking brave but vulnerable at the same time. When no one said anything Francis walked over to them.

"Let me do it Mum. We both know that Dad would be hopeless in this situation and you've been through enough already. You deserve a break. So let me do it." Francis stared intently into his mother's eyes, pleading for her approval. Then Lois found her voice.

"Francis honey, are you sure?"

"More than sure" he replied vaguely.

"Alright then, I'll let you do it." Lois pulled Francis into a hug and when she let go Dr Lukas started talking again.

"Mr and Mrs Wilkerson, I'll just need you to sign a couple of forms if you can please."

"Yes of course" Lois said as she and Hal followed the doctor and Francis returned to Reese's room.

A couple of hours later Dr Lukas was back in Reese's room preparing for the biopsy. After Lois and Hal consented the family gathered around Reese's bed and as expected Reese decided to have a family member present. The doctor had explained the procedure to Reese in detail and he was feeling pretty nervous about it.

"It's okay man. You're gonna be fine because I'll be right there with you" Francis had told him. Reese was still digesting the information and couldn't respond.

"And so am I!" announced Malcolm.

"What!" Lois and Francis cried out.

"Malcolm you don't have to do this-" Francis tried to convince him before being interrupted.

"Look, I probably know this procedure better than any of you so I know what to expect and I'm not going to let my brother go through it without me!" Malcolm argued. Lois and Francis tried for a while to change Malcolm's mind but he was stubborn and in the end they gave in. So there Reese was, lying on his front with the doctor on one side and his brothers on the other. He'd turned his head so he was facing Francis and his arms were crossed on his pillow with his head resting on them. Malcolm was sitting silently but Francis was making chit chat with the doctor.

"So anyway" he said with a silly grin on his face, "it turns out the cow wasn't crazy or possessed. She just needed to be milked!" Both Francis and Dr Lukas chuckled but Reese and Malcolm were too nervous to make a sound.

"Reese, I've just cleaned the area so now you will feel a bit of a bee sting." The sting made Reese hiss a little. Francis grabbed his shoulder lightly in comfort as he and Malcolm watched intently.

"So Francis, how long have you been at the dude ranch?" The doctor asked.

"Oh gee…probably just over a year" Francis answered thoughtfully. Malcolm stopped listening and glanced at Reese, who seemed to be alright for the moment, then diverted his eyes to the needle that Dr Lukas picked up. It was a needle that looked more like a chisel than a medical instrument. Even though he was both fascinated and curious of the procedure, he couldn't watch. Instead, he watched Reese's reaction.

"Okay Reese. Are you ready?" A broken sigh escaped Reese's mouth before he answered.

"Yeah I guess." The next few minutes weren't very fun for the brothers. Malcolm was torn between watching his brother being quite literally stabbed in the back and watching the same brother cry out or hiss in pain. Francis didn't seem to be doing well either as his grip on Reese's shoulder became tighter as he watched in horror. The chit chat had come to a complete stop and when Malcolm glanced at Francis he was pretty sure he'd just witnessed the colour drain from his face. Reese's eyes and teeth were now clenched tight as he tried to suppress any more cries from escaping. Of course the doctor had continued talking but no one was listening. A nurse or two may have come in to assist but they weren't sure either way. All they wanted was for it to be over and after what felt like forever, they heard Dr Lukas say "Okay, that's all done. I'll come back soon to let you know how the results turn out." After that he was gone. Francis breathed deeply to catch his breath then let out a sigh.

"How are you feeling, Reese?" he asked.

"Not too good" Reese answered through clenched teeth.

"Well you did great buddy. Don't you think he did great Malcolm?" Francis babbled. When Malcolm didn't answer he glared at him menacingly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. You did great Reese."

"Thank guys."

A couple of hours later when the rest of the family had returned from lunch, Reese had somewhat recovered and Francis was out of his foetal position in the corner, Dr Lukas returned. Everyone looked at him expectantly, no one daring to say a word.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news" he started grimly. "Reese has Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia. He has cancer." Everyone's face fell.

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So this may have been a bit over dramatic but I wanted there to be a bit of drama. Also sorry if there are any spelling/grammatical errors, I have a new laptop and for some reason typing is a bit difficult, I think I'm not used to having to press the keys so hard and I couldn't be bothered reading through the chapter to read through everything. I just wanted to post SOMETHING for you all.

Just a heads up, next chapter will be the last one but who knows, I may post an epilogue but I havent written one and to be honest I kinda want to move on to other projects. To all my reviewers let me know what you thought of the chapter, I wasn't very happy with it myself but hopefully it wasn't too disappointing for you.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone! Well here it is, the last chapter. Sorry this is late again but I'm glad I didn't make you wait another 2 years! For everyone who has waited so long for this I hope you enjoy the conclusion. I also wanted to dedicate this last chapter to AceM for reviewing every chapter so far and being a constant motivation for me to finish this fic and not leave you hanging. Also its good to know that I still have readers from the very beginning :). This is also dedicated to usedusernames for gushing about me in the forum (yep I saw that and thanks so much for what you said!) and lastly to my pet cat Jinx who unfortunately passed away a couple of weeks ago.

Disclaimer: If you recognize any of this from the TV show Malcolm in the Middle then it was not created by me.

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Chapter 11

**************A few weeks later***************

The sun was rising outside while Reese watched it through the uncovered slit in his window. Due to being in bed it was a little lopsided but Reese didn't care, it still looked wonderful. Even though the sun was now shining it was still early enough for everyone to be sleeping. Reese had been awake for a while though, just lying in bed peacefully. He estimated the time to be about 6.30 am but it didn't matter.

After being diagnosed with cancer he had retreated into his own thoughts, never really saying much. It was like he was trying to figure out how he should feel or at least that's what he had overheard his family concluding. At first it had been rough, he watched his family go through all of the stages of grief but now everyone had gone back to the way it was, like nothing had happened. He knew that wasn't true, they were just trying to be strong for him, but he was pretty sure that when they were alone their emotions had been getting the better of them. They would probably get angry, throw things around the room, punch walls until they were out of breath and energy or they would cry all of their tears out until they had collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. Reese couldn't seem to do any of that though; it was like he was completely numb.

He looked over at the bed next to him. Both of his brothers were still fast asleep, their breathing deep and content. It wouldn't be for much longer though because soon they would have to get up for school.

'School,' Reese thought. He hadn't been back since he'd run away from home to find Malcolm but couldn't decide if he missed it or not. His bully status was probably depleted anyway and if he ever did go back no one would probably feel threatened by him anymore. To Reese, that was the saddest part, the part that he would miss the most.

A random snore from one of his brother's jolted him from his thoughts. He couldn't take much more of this, the air in the room had become too stifling to bare. So he got up and abruptly left the room.

Something woke Francis up but he couldn't remember what it was. He looked over at his wife to see if it was her but she was still fast asleep. He looked around the room he was in, the familiar sight of his parent's garage filling his vision and he realized everything was still in place. He and Piama had decided to extend their stay with his family and given the circumstances his boss Otto was happy to let them so he had come to know his surroundings quite well.

'That noise,' he thought, 'could it have been a bang?' But then there was something else after it, like shuffling. 'Hmm…' He pondered. Not exactly sure if it was a dream or not, Francis decided to look outside, which is where he found Reese.

"Reese, what are you doing?" he asked softly. Reese was standing in the middle of the lawn staring up at something.

"Just watching the sun rise," he answered hypnotically. Glancing up at the sun and not knowing what the big deal was Francis pressed on.

"But it's early; you should still be in bed." There was no response but Reese did avert his gaze down to the back fence. "You have a big day remember?"

"I know. How could I forget?" It wasn't a question.

"Which is why you need to get all the rest you can," Francis explained. Reese dropped his gaze to the ground which made Francis worried. He was just able to catch his brother in time before he hit the ground.

"Reese, are you feeling dizzy?" Francis asked while cradling his brother.

"A little," Reese choked and when he opened his eyes Francis was surprised to see tears.

"Reese, what's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"I…I don't think…I can do this," Reese stammered.

"Do what?"

"Survive." It was a word Reese didn't want to say and a word that Francis didn't want to hear.

"Now you listen to me! You are one of the strongest people I know and you are going to beat this!"

"I don't deserve to survive."

"Why would you say that?" Francis asked.

"Because of all the terrible things I've done." Reese sniffled and let the tears fall down his face. Francis held him tighter.

"I don't know why you got sick but it's not because of what you've done and it's not going to keep you from surviving."

"You really think so?"

"Yes I do." Reese wiped some of his tears away and thought for a moment.

"How am I going to beat this? I'm too tired to fight already." He stared at Francis, waiting for the answer.

"Because you have us, your family, fighting with you. We won't ever let anything happen to you and if that cancer wants to hurt you, it'll have to go through me first!" Francis declared with a cheeky grin. Reese stared at him for a moment longer before throwing his arms around Francis and hugged him tightly. Francis hugged him back, hoping he didn't look as scared as he felt.

When everyone was awake and up Francis gathered his brothers to the table outside, ready to give a speech.

"Aright guys, as brothers we may fight a lot but we always stick together, right?"

"Yeah," Malcolm and Dewey answered in unison.

"Well, one of our own is about to embark on the fight of his life. Are we just going to let him go through that on his own?"

"Hell no," they both said together. Francis smiled. Reese, who was sitting next to him, smiled as well.

"Good. Then I propose that we make a pledge." The brother's all grabbed hands and stared intently at Francis.

"Together, we pledge to never leave Reese's side, no matter what. We will always help him with whatever he needs and always put him first. Reese may not think that he is strong enough to win this battle on his own but together, with all of our strength combined, we can beat anything. Let the world know that there is nothing strong enough to break a brother's bond and there never will be! Amen."

Reese walked into the bright hospital room, sat on the bed and watched as the nurse hooked him up to his first chemotherapy treatment. After hearing Francis's pledge that morning he was feeling relaxed and content. He looked over at his mother and brother who were sitting across the room smiling confidently at him. Piama was there too, smiling brightly next to Francis. He returned their smiles nervously and then when he felt the fluid enter his veins he sat back, closed his eyes and pretty soon he was asleep.

Slowly he opened his eyes. He watched as the world around him fell apart as one by one all the buildings came crashing down. Avalanches of grass and dirt fell down the mountains gaining speed as they got closer to the bottom. Cracks appeared in the earth as the earthquakes got worse, the sound growing louder and louder. Finally the earth split in pieces, some of the pieces falling into the fires below. Then suddenly, it all stopped. He was accompanied by nothing but silence and his own thoughts. Slowly he began to walk around, the earth surprisingly steady as his feet hit the ground with every step he took. He stood on grass, dirt, gravel and glass but he didn't stop walking. There was no sign of anyone, alive or dead, yet somehow he had survived. He kept walking in silence glancing here and there as if inspecting the damage. Then it happened. Either he tripped on something or the ground beneath him gave way. It didn't matter though because now he was falling slowly. He closed his eyes...then something grabbed him. Bewildered, he opened his eyes again to see Malcolm staring back at him while holding onto his wrist. Neither of them could contain the smiles that burst upon their faces. Then over Malcolm's shoulder Francis appeared, also smiling. Then Dewey. Piama. His father. Then finally, his mother. Somehow now they were all holding onto him and together, they pulled him back up.

THE END

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Well there you have it. It's kind of a relief to have finally finished this though I did mention the possibility of either a sequel or epilogue I think I'm just going to label this as complete for now. Maybe return to it later. Anyway my next stop will be finishing Fugitives in the Middle so to everyone who has been reading that then I will see you there! Bye for now!


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